The Giants are masters at figuring out how to get younger on offense.
Getting better is the hard part.
Just when it looked like the offensive was going to be a major outdoor hit in the off-season for the first time in a decade, Giants right-back Kevin Zeitler cut $ 12 million in salary cap on forward Leonard Williams franchise label . Nate Solder could also be gone if the parties do not quickly agree on a restructured contract – an opportunity that Zeitler never offered, a source told The Post.
The Giants will enter the free agency with a set-up of Andrew Thomas, left-back Will Hernandez, Nick Gates, Shane Lemieux and Matt Peart / Solder. Here are the two different ways to turn the situation around:
Glass half full
The Super Bowl 60 champion Giants look back on drafts for 2018-20 as the foundation for their 2025 championship. All five homemade lineouts then come together – set up in the first, second, third and sixth rounds and completed by an undefeated gem – and become a better sum than individual parts. Just as general manager Dave Gettleman envisioned when he promised to set the priority for the correction of the line in December 2017.
This is the dream anyway. Borrowed from a similar blueprint the Giants used during their last two Super Bowl victories.
The Giants finally have a core that can fulfill the football word that lines need time and patience to build chemistry. All five entrees (excluding Solder) are 25 years or younger and together they will count for only $ 15.5 million compared to the 2021 limit, compared to Solder’s pre-restructured amount of $ 16.5 million. Hernandez begins his running year, but the other four are signed for at least two more seasons.
And there is opportunity to compete. The COVID-19 salary cap dropped from a projected $ 210 million to $ 182.5 million, prompting the Giants to pick their best defensive line over their best offensive linebacker.
Zeitler is an example of bloodshed in the league this week. The chance exists to get two quality veterans for the price of his $ 12 million salary, especially if the Pro Bowl guards, Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell, who are linked by Gettleman, enter the market. A qualitative left guard can help Thomas reach the next level, after a mostly strong finish.
“While struggling, especially at the start of the season, he showed me enough growth and improvement throughout the season to be optimistic about his future,” said Joe Thomas, an NFL Network analyst, a future Hall of Famer , told The Post. “I believe he still has a chance to be a franchise approach, but it will require work and continuous improvement.”
Glass half empty
Here’s another way to see the entrees: Thomas allowed the second push in the NFL (57), Hernandez lost his starting lineup half last season and didn’t play in the final game. Gates was the center no. 27 by Pro Football Focus, Lemieux, was the NFL’s lowest rated pass rate, Peart started one career, and Solder allowed the third most pockets in the NFL (11) when he last played in 2019.
“These are more questions than answers,” an NFL scout said of the league’s no. 31 position last season. “Thomas was selected first, but clearly finished fourth among the rookies last year.”
If the goal of the Giants season, as it should be, is to get a definitive answer as to whether Daniel Jones is the franchise quarterback or needs to be replaced, the line could imply and create the excuses left by the Jets. by hoeing this season when determining Sam Darnold’s future.
You get what you pay for.
Although there are an unexpected number of linebackers available and the oversupply could drop the price of free agent, the Giants still have to make the right decision to weed the masses.
Faith can be misplaced due to recent miscalculations on the offensive line – Solder and Patrick Omameh volunteered in 2018, and neither Hernandez nor Thomas have maintained their draft status so far – and a record of overconfidence through the Super Bowl years. on marginal additions Jon Halapio, Spencer Pulley, Jamon Brown, Brett Jones, Marshall Newhouse, JD Walton and Bobby Hart.
Resources devoted to the line once again detract from the ability to meet other urgent needs for a no. 1 receiver, a bona fide pass rusher and an NFL caliber no.